隨著時代的演進及國際環境的變遷，台灣對於日本所代表的意義也不斷在改變，經過李登輝、陳水扁時代總計二十年的經營，使台日關係的發展空前良好。但多年來的正面發展，容易讓人過度樂觀看待這段雙邊關係，而忽略了其實台日之間仍然有不少問題，例如從未獲得有效解決的爭端（釣魚台問題），以及不穩定的外部環境因素（中共、美國因素），使原本良好的台日關係倒退，甚至爆發衝突的可能性也不能排除。 由於台灣及日本在二戰後的發展深受冷戰因素影響，因此本論文仍有相當篇幅整理冷戰期間的台日關係，接著逐步分析台日之間能在冷戰後朝正面發展的原因、限制雙方進一步朝安保關係發展的關鍵，以及符合台日目前國情的安全合作模式的應有型態。As time and international situation change, Japan’s meaning to Taiwan keeps changing as well. After the 20 years ruling of President Teng-Hui Leeand President Shui-Bian Chen, the development of Taiwan-Japan relationship reaches a historical high. However, the positive development for years makes people over-optimistic for such relationship. As the result, people overlook the fact that there are still many existing problems between Taiwan and Japan. For example, the unsolved disputes (the Fishing Islands issue) and the unstable external environmental facts (China and U.S. factors) lead to the recession of the good relationship between Taiwan and Japan, and even conflicts are also possible. The post-Second World War development of both Taiwan and Japan are deeply affected by Cold War factor. Therefore, this thesis devotes one chapter to describe the Taiwan-Japan relationship during the Cold War, following by the analysis for the reason why the Taiwan-Japan relationship may develop positively after the Cold War, the key factor restricting both parties to further develop the safety security relationship, and the practical security cooperation model under the current situation in Taiwan and Japan.